5 Best Resorts in Scottsdale for Families – Updated 2024
Looking to escape cold-weather and gray skies? Scottsdale has you covered! You’ll be charmed by the art-gallery packed main-street and prickly cacti this incredibly family friendly destination. Now you just need to find the best resorts in Sottsdale for families and you’ll be ready to book your vacation!
Why Should You go to Scottsdale?
Scottsdale is a great option for families looking for luxury, indoor fun, and outdoor activities. Some of our favorite stops on our spring break trip included the Desert Botanical Garden, hiking in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, and a stop to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. If you need more help planning your Scottsdale trip check out our recommendations of the ten best things to do in Scottsdale with kids.
How to find the best resorts in scottsdale for families?
When I’m researching hotels for our family trips, I focus on a few key criteria: (1) location, (2) noise, (3) cleanliness, and (4) kid-centric and adult-friendly amenities. Luckily, Scottsdale has quite a few hotels that will check all of these boxes no matter your budget or standards! Here are the best resorts in Scottsdale for families, from sprawling luxury resorts to budget friendly options.
Pro tip: When searching for the perfect hotel, I like to start with blog posts (like the one you are reading!) and then do my own research on google reviews. I ensure the hotel has a 4.5 star rating or higher and then search for a few keywords (“noise”, “kids”, “bugs”). I’ll also scan through the lowest reviews. Sometimes you will find that someone gave a 1 star review to a hotel for something you could care less about. Example, the hotel bar didn’t have top shelf liquor. Luckily you don’t have to do all of that for Scottsdale because I already have!
Our List of The Best Scottsdale Resorts For Families
JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort and spa
Best For: Luxury loving Family
The top spot goes to one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed at, the Camelback Inn Resort and Spa. The Camelback Inn Resort and Spa is a great place to base your Scottsdale family vacation. Located just 12 minutes away from old town Scottsdale. This hotel is also the closest to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, a must do with young kids!
Prior to staying here, I spent a lot of time searching “Is the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort and Spa kid friendly?”. The internet didn’t convince me it was but it didn’t convince me it wasn’t and the full-service spa was calling to me so I decided to roll the dice on this property and am so glad that I did. While you won’t find traditional kid-friendly amenities like water slides and lazy rivers, let me tell you why this is one of the best resorts in Scottsdale for families!
What We Loved
Your kids will feel like kings and queens at check in when they receive their very own stuffed animal and scavenger hunt packet. The staff bent over backwards to make sure my kids could have matching camels after they immediately started arguing over one (toddlers?! Am I right?). From check out they will probably insist you spend some time on the putting green before heading to the huge heated outdoor pool. While it doesn’t have any waterslides, it makes up for that with amazing views due to the location at the base of Camelback Mountain. I also loved how large the steps area in the pool was for my younger kiddo. Still looking for more kid-friendly amenities? My kids loved conducting the resort scavenger hunts and looking for the right statues and animals.
What really sold me on this being the best family friendly property was the hotel layout. The guest rooms are casita style so we didn’t have any neighbors above or to one side of us. If you’ve ever tried to sleep in a hotel with a toddler while listening to footsteps and slamming doors all night you know how amazing this casita layout is! But that’s not all, the property is home to charming wildlife like quail and bunnies that made our short walks to the pool that much more fun. After our evening swims, we’d walk around the property scouting for animals before getting dinner to go from one of the on-site restaurants and camping out in front of one of the fire pits.
Not only is this one of my favorite Scottsdale resorts for families, it might be my favorite luxury resort in the US! Don’t miss out on getting a spa treatment here. I loved my alone-mom time at the spa!
JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
Best for: sun-seekers who love the pool
Located in North Scottsdale, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa is 30 minutes from historic old town Scottsdale. However, that location means you are a short drive to the Sonoran Preserve and McDowell Mountain Regional Park. That means easy access to some great family friendly hiking!
A hotel with its own lazy river! Need I say more? There is clearly a trend here: the Marriott properties in the Scottsdale area are absolutely fantastic for families. Honestly, I had a tough time not choosing the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa. What put it over for me was that this resort was doing pool construction when we were visiting which meant we’d be without a pool for our trip. That was a deal breaker but is good news for you as the AquaRidge waterpark now boasts three new water slides. It really is the perfect place for families hoping to spend the day lounging by the pool!
Not only are the outdoor amenities fantastic, the resort also caters to families through the kids camp, Family Escape, that is part childcare and part family activities. Kids can take part in fun activities like tie-dying and crafting and the whole family can get in on the action during family leisure hours. And don’t make sure to make use of the complimentary bike rentals!
For families looking for large rooms, I recommend upgrading to the studio suite, which is nearly 900 square feet of family luxury. The room comes with a king murphy bed and a large living area with a sofa bed.
Westin Kierland Resort and Spa
Best For: Families Traveling With Pets
The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa is not only kid-friendly, it is pet-friendly too! Dogs and cats will get the VIP treatment with a welcome bag and their very own Westin Heavenly dog bed. And they stay fee-free!
The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa might have my favorite hotel bed design ever. In the traditional king size room, the day bed has a trundle bed so you can easily sleep a family of four. Trundle beds are infinitely easier to put away than a sofa bed making this the perfect room for a family!
The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa is one of the best. The pool area is massive to accommodate the Adventure Water Park, adult pool, and whirl pool. The Adventure Water Park includes a lazy river and the Flowrider where you can catch a wave. Younger kids can enjoy the zero entry pool while bigger kids practice hanging ten.
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
Best For: The Golfing Family
While the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale has many of the traditional amenities you’d expect from a luxury resort like tennis courts, a hot tub, and outdoor pools what will win many families over are the award winning golf courses. Kids under 15 can play after 3pm for free with a paying adult making this an activity for the whole family!
The Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale takes it to the next level when offering family friendly amenities. Families can choose from a variety of kid-related gear like a diaper genie, diapers and wipes, child sized slippers, a bottle warmer, and so much more. How convenient to not have to bring those things from home yourself!
Splurge on a suite and enjoy the extra space at this family-friendly resort!
fairmont Scottsdale Princess
best For: Families with Toddlers
The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess boasts one of my favorite hotel amenities, a splash pad! The Sonoran Splash Zone is zero entry with spray fountains that is absolutely perfect for younger kids who love being in the water but aren’t necessarily big on swimming yet. But that’s not all, the Sunset pool also has 9,000 square feet of white sand beach! The hardest decision you have to make each day may be what pool to play in.
Similar to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, there is a drop-off kids club you can utilize in the morning that becomes a family activity zone in the afternoon. You can drop in to play air hockey, video games, or take part in crafts.
Why we didn’t stay here: The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess came highly recommended from friends but if you scour the google reviews you’ll find quite a few that complain that the resort is a little dated and doesn’t truly feel like 5-star but still comes with a 5-star price tag. For that reason, we went with the Camelback Inn Resort & Spa instead.
Great Wolf Lodge Scottsdale
best for: families who want to cater to their little ones
A little bit of an outside of the box pick for me! I typically don’t cater to our kids on trips. I like bringing them with me, but I don’t center my choices around them. However, I think the Great Wolf Lodge is amazing option for families who are traveling to Scottsdale when the weather is a little cool due to the indoor waterpark. I know, I know, Arizona is always hot. Except when it isn’t! We were there during a freak cold-front with a good bit of rain, making an indoor waterpark the perfect escape. What I love about the waterpark is that it is perfect for kids of all ages.
But it’s not just the waterpark, there is a ropes course and mini-golf, a mining-experience, a build-a-bear experience, the list goes on and on! It’s rare to find such an amazing hotel where you could stay on property for a whole week without getting bored.
Holiday inn Club Vacations Scottsdale Resort
Best for: Families on a budget
I’m not going to lie, Scottsdale is not a cheap vacation. Between the luxury lodging and all the delicious restaurants, your vacation can get expensive quickly. Luckily, the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Scottsdale Resort offers budget friendly lodging with a lot of the luxury-resort amenities. Like four heated pools and waterslides!
Another great perk is that the Holiday Inn offers typical hotel rooms as well as more family friendly villas and family-style rooms. Meaning you can sleep comfortably during your vacation, no matter how big your family. One of my must haves!
Best Resorts For Activity Lovers
Golf
Many of the resorts above offer award winning championship golf courses. You really can’t go wrong with any luxury resort that you chose. In addition to 18-hole golf courses, many of the resorts have driving ranges and discounts or benefits for guests.
Tennis
Which hotels have tennis courts? Most luxury resorts will have tennis courts, as an added bonus the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa has pickelball courts as well!
Best Resorts in Scottsdale for families
There are so many amazing resorts, but I promise you this list consists of the best resorts in Scottsdale for families. You can’t go wrong basing your trip out of any one of these fantastic properties!
Scottsdale is amazing family friendly destination! These Scottsdale luxury resorts for families are the perfect homebases for a variety of vacations. from adventure to relaxing, you’ll find it all in Scottsdale!
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